


Misaligned

by thetruecrystalvixen, ValentineLuna



Category: Fanfictions - Fandom, Gravity Falls, Rick and Morty, Undertale
Genre: Adventure, Assistant, Characters Reading Fanfiction, F/F, F/M, Head Injury, Irresponsible, M/M, OC, Other, Rick and Morty - Freeform, creepy neighbor, don't trust a cat, fandoms - Freeform, younger than you seem
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-11
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2018-08-14 13:28:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8015743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thetruecrystalvixen/pseuds/thetruecrystalvixen, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ValentineLuna/pseuds/ValentineLuna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The world we live in is one of isolation; whether we view that is a good or bad thing is up to the eye of the beholder.</p><p>This is most definitely the case for two friends. Life is as is it always is, boring, monotonous and somewhat depressive. The pair share a cheap apartment in agriculture stagnant town whose residents think the idea of fun is athletics or drugs, trying to eek out a life with what they can and scrap by. However, not all is bad as the friends have each other, their past times and whatever family that decides to drop by and eat from their fridge.</p><p>However, life is about to take a turn for the better, or perhaps worse all because of a bottle cap.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Opening

**Author's Note:**

> A fan fiction collaboration between thetruecrystalvixen and Valetineluna.  
> ‘We fuel our fandom; we embrace the oddity and uniqueness with passion and elation.’
> 
> This is a cross-over fan fiction/ self-indulgence. Somewhat prompted and inspired by a discussion I had with someone over what our universe is to other realities.
> 
> Disclaimer: Characters based on any real (living or not) have had their names changed for obvious reasons of protection.  
> Rick and Morty (c) Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon  
> Undertale (c) Toby Fox  
> Gravity Falls (c) Alex Hirsch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Introduction of Misaligned.
> 
> a/n vl - Fish sounds and something bout monkeys evolving and shit. yeah pepe I swear a lot.

The world is as we see it: the perception of the viewer’s eyes, no more or no less. Governed by a certainty of principles in time and set purpose. Ever changing, yet remaining the same to the cosmos as it has for millennia.

As it would seem and expected to be.

However, that is not the case at all. It is true that the world is certainly set by an order of rules; nature is defined by the very definition time and repetition. Seasons come and go, oceans fall from the melting of ice or dawn of new ice ages, mountains twist and rise under the strain of tectonic force. The march of evolution follows these rules as well, as nothing can adapt instantaneously overnight, a fish didn’t wake up one morning and believed it could breathe air.

No more than a snail could teach itself to fly; evolution takes an arduous pace of time.

The primary- or to say, the denizens that believed they were in control of the world were no different. They evolved over millions of years from one-celled organisms, to fish, then reptilian mammals. However, finding their niche as minuscule rodents they saved their ancestry from the apocalyptic regime the dinosaurs faced, eventually emerging and evolving into ape-like beings and finally psychotic bipeds with an obsession for fiscal earnings and mental disorders.

Advancing of thousands of years of war, culture, development and uncountable acts of genocides- not to mention a fair few lost civilisations and islands, the species of humanity had dawned into the era of their global calendar, marking their 2000 year of existence after a very well-meaning man had asked everyone to be nice to each other.

His story ended up with him being nailed to a tree.

Many of the Earths inhabitants believed in some deity form or another, which prompted many wars, disagreements and land grabbing to sort out whose God or Gods was/were the best. Frankly it seemed more like a childish squabbling over who had the best sand castle than anything well-meaning and kind.

Then again, what is to be expected by a species whose world literally means dirt.


	2. Chapter One - Bottle cap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because of a flip of a Bottle cap, two sister's lives change drastically.
> 
> a/n vl - *smeaglevoice* My pretty precious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Characters based on any real (living or not) have had their names changed for obvious reasons of protection.

** Chapter One – Bottlecap **

Clouds.

Spread across the horizon was a layer of clouds.

Not clouds of white fluffy decadence that brought forth images of resting in the grass and staring luridly at said clouds at whimsical shapes. No, these clouds were grey and foreboding. Not that grey clouds were ever bad-- that usually entitled rain, which was certainly a good thing. Well… most of the time for nature, cleaning dusty roads, creating puddles for irate children to jump in and kick at others.

No-- these clouds were pale grey; a depiction of ashen skies and gaunt faces of the near dead was more apt description. A young woman sighed, her gaze sliding down towards the pockmarked ground, eyes flitting over the straggles of grass that attempted to grow. The landlord didn’t seem to care about the state of the community garden, which was not surprising in the least due to the cheap rent of the rooms.

The apartments were infested with mice and ill managed plumbing systems, the rooms tiny and oppressive with doors that only locked if you threw yourself against them. This always left bruises on the smaller framed or weaker inhabitants. In the hotter months, they were lucky if the mass cooling atop the roof worked for the hottest days or at all. Many a resident had deemed the community garden an eyesore to bother with, even in summer for sprinklers or paddling pool to survive the heat. In winter, they were lucky if they had heating at all as most of the fireplaces had been bricked in or removed.

Tapping her fingers on the windowsill, the woman brushed her hair from her eyes as she watched the oppressive weather darken slightly. With a huff she shook her head, there was no smell in the air, no tang of ozone nor palatable change, and it wasn’t as if she expected rain. Just a change in the monotonic weather the town had been facing. Closing her eyes, she hummed softly, seeming to wait for something- or someone.

“You prayin’ to gods or something Chére?” a slightly nasally yet ever-so-chirpy asked behind her.

Turning her head, she smiled at a woman wearing a button up shirt and slim fitting suit pants, carrying a creased jacket over one shoulder and a messenger bag over the other. With a smile ’Chére’ replied, “If I was, I would ask them for a job,” with a shrug she chuckled, “And a better place to live.”

The taller woman laughed, shaking her head to the side as she set the messenger bag on the kitchen bench, along with several plastic shopping bags. “Well, they better do something soon, ‘blathers’ is asking about the rent again.” She huffed, “Old crone just can’t tell time when she has to fix something, but when the end of the month rolls around…” she threw up her free hand, “Look out! She has a Taser and a net to catch the checks!”

Chuckling at her roommate, Chére shook her head, “Well, if she learned compassion she would fix everything and everyone would pay on time.” She stated as her fringe slide over her face, the ringlets curling around her cheeks, “I am telling you Lisa, if people were nicer to each other, we would all be better off.”

Lisa shrugged and let out a sigh. She knew her older friend was a kind hearted woman, but she just couldn’t grasp the concept of some people aren’t forgivable or ever going to be kind. _‘No’_ she thought, shaking that thought away, _‘Chére knows that some people are nothing but bad. Yet she’ll always try to help and forgive.’_

Chére’s brow furrowed as she watched her friends face crease in the repetitive way that showed she was quite adamant about the situation. “Lisa… please don’t be sad over my views, you know that’s how I am.”

Within an instance, Lisa snorted and straightened up, “Nah, I’m not sad, not at all.” She grinned widely, “In fact, I’m happy that you’re the way you are.” She continued, opening the shopping bags and began to place the items in their rightful places around the apartment. “You’re a sweet girl, compassionate, interesting, charming,” she started to list off Chére’s attributes and traits as she saw them, while Chére herself was turning pink at the praise, replying in kind.

“No, no. Not at all,” she stammered as she put the milk in the small dinky fridge that barely reached her hip, “You Lisa are brave, witty, charming, you speak your mind-”

“Hey, let me stop you right there Chére,” the younger woman cried, pointing a carrot at the shorter woman, “I am in no way charming. I swear like sailor for fucks’ sake.”

“Expressive.” Chére remarked, looking at her friend’s deep frown.

Lisa stuck out her tongue, placing the last vegetable in the box next to the fridge, “Constipated face that inspires torture.”

“Incredibly endearing, and ever-so-bold!” Chére chided softly.

Lisa snorted, “I’m an annoying ass, and pushy to the point of being a mini Hitler.”

“A laugh that is adorable and cute, unique!” the chocolate haired woman raised her voice.

Blinking, Lisa looked at her like she was crazy, “I sound like a dolphin fucking a hyena! Or at least their ill-bred offspring!” she threw up her hands, “How in the gods names is that adorable to you, or to anyone for that matter?!”

Chére huffed, crossing her arms across her chest as she looked away, “I have never heard a laugh like it. It is refreshing. Unique and entirely real.” She confessed, “You aren’t lying when you laugh, it is something wonderful to know and realise.”

Slowly, Lisa placed the loaf of bread she was going to throw and leant back against the counter, “Y-you think it’s genuine?” Chére nodded, her face going slightly pink, “Chére…” she shook her head, “Scarlett… that means…” she chuckled, “I have no idea what it means, but it means something good to me.”

With a shy smile, Scarlett tilts her head her hair bouncing off her cheek, “Don’t forget it now.” She teased, moving around the kitchen to gather up the now empty shopping bags. Placing them in a cupboard under the sink on a hook, she then straightened up, cracking her back as she stretched.

“Sounding a bit achy there Scarlett,” Lisa mused, patting her friends back, “Careful you don’t break something when you move your arms up.” She hummed, her eyes flicking down to Scarlett’s chest- which was now covered in spider webs and bits of onion husk.

“H-how, when did this happen?” she exclaimed, her eyes wide as she lowered her arms and brushed the gunk and refuse off her. Groaning in agitation, her eye twitched as the spider webs clung to her shirt with such determination that the webbing seemed to seep into the fabric.

Lisa sighed as she watched the pale woman make the problem worse. She moved to the sink, wetting the tea towel that hung outside the oven she turned around and started to gingerly clean Scarlett’s shirt, “Chére, you make such messes, what am I going to do with you?”

The older woman was silent for a moment before she spoke, “If this was an anime or sitcom, you would say something prophetic, make my shirt worse or offer ah…” she blushed, then looked off to the side, too embarrassed to finish her sentence.

Continuing her cleaning, Lisa didn’t look up to see the young woman’s face- as she knew the poor dear would be too shy to say something if she was looking at her, “Yes?”

Tapping her fingers against the counter, “Offer me pleasantries…” Scarlett mumbled, her face a searing red, which made her sapphire eyes pop even more in comparison.

Chuckling, Lisa set the cloth down in the sink and looked down into her companion’s eyes, “Well Chére, we would enjoy it, most definitely,” she winked as she looked away to the sink turning the hot water on, “We both know that we’re nothing more than sisters and neither of us are the type we like.”

Secretly, Lisa was enjoying burning the spider webs away, as she had a phobia of the arachnid family and anything associated to it.

Nodding, Scarlett tucked her hair behind her ears as she turned and leant against the bench next to Lisa, “That is true.” With a small grin she bent and leaned her head on Lisa’s shoulder, watching her wash the spider webs away under hot water, she closed her eyes, “Mmmhm, though it is impossible to find a person I would like in this boondock.” She lamented, over the sheer hopelessness of ever meeting someone exciting, fun or even an academic of sorts in the proverbial cesspit they had the misfortune of living in.

With a laugh that echoed in the space, they occupied, Lisa grinned, “Chére, ya gotta have faith that something will happen or work out for the best.”

Nodding Scarlett tucked her bangs behind her ears, “Did you get more margarine? I know you can’t have oil.” She asked, her eyes flicking up to her sister’s slowly widening marine eyes.

As if on cue, Lisa swore and kicked out her foot, “I knew I forgot something!” she huffed and crossed her arms, her anger dissipating as she removed her glasses with one hand and rubbed the bridge of her nose with the other. “Okay, so I’ll go out and get some damn marger-“ she blinked as Scarlett held up a bottle cap, “So, going Fallout on me? I don’t think the local supermarket deals in caps.” She joked, shifting the mistake away to humour.

The older sister smiled and held the bottle cap in her forefinger and thumb, “Call it.” She stated and smiled, shifting the metal disc to balance on her fisted hand, balancing on her thumb.

Lisa smirked; leaning back, she raised a brow, “Heads, the painted part.” Scarlett nodded, flipping the cap into the air. The disc spun, flipping a multitude of times, the shiny metal glinting in the afternoon light- or what little seeped through the overcast sky. Clinking when it hit the faded linoleum floor, the bottle cap bounced and spun on its side and landed on the ribbed bottom. “Well, seems like I have to go out again.” Lisa sighed, removing herself from the bench and moved to pick up her messenger bag.

“W-wait, shouldn’t I go because I lost?” Scarlett asked, scooping the bottle cap up, fiddling with as she looked at Lisa, her brow furrowed.

Shooting the other brunette a wide smile, Lisa winked, “But I walk so far to bring the animal fat Chére, how can I serve my precious?” she cackled in a mock-Gollum voice before she sprinted to the front door and away, the door slamming shut behind her.

For a few moments, the older woman stood in the kitchen before a sad smile broke out on her face, “You don’t have to do everything Lisa… you’re a good person, n-not my mother or caretaker.” She whispered softly to herself. Unaware of how long she stood there, staring at the bottle cap in her hands, Scarlett only shifted when she heard a scream and a thump from outside the kitchen window. Her head shooting up, the pale brunette rushed out through the kitchen, the living room and turned right and out into the community garden. As her heart hammered in the chest from the scream, Scarlett’s eyes darted around as she looked for the source.

After a moment, she found the most logical source for the scream, a boy.

Moving through the overgrown grass and weeds to the prone form of a juvenile, Scarlett gently checked the boy for injuries; he seemed to have a bump on his head, scrapes and a few tiny burns. Shifting the teen, Scarlett dragged him inside her flat, somewhat thankful the unnamed boy was small, he didn’t seem any taller than her.

Laying the pubescent, (if he was one) out on the raggedy, yet comfortable old couch in the living room. Pillowing the teen’s head on a folded jacket, Scarlett darted to the kitchen to grab the first-aid kit and ice-pack. Returning, she sat on the coffee table and tended to the young man’s injuries. Cleaning, disinfecting the wounds, applying burn salve to the angry raised markings, Scarlett soon finished and held an icepack to the teen’s head. “How did you get so hurt little one?” she whispered softly, her brow furrowed in concern, “Did you fall from upstairs?” she asked aloud.

The problem with the teen was that Scarlett didn’t recognise him, nothing seemed familiar in a sense of being a neighbours child or relative. The people of the block were relatively friendly with one another, they knew each other and mostly because they enjoyed to gripe over the sheer inadequacy of the property owner. Lisa was known as ‘the sweets lady’ due to her talent with cooking sweet treats and dessert, which she shared with everyone. Studying the teen, Scarlett brushed back his curly brown hair in worry, why hadn’t someone looked for him?

A phone ringing in the background broke Scarlett from her thoughts. Standing, she pat the teen’s shoulder, “I’ll be back, then I’ll ask around about who might know you, okay?” the older brunette smiled kindly as she moved through the domicile and to her room. Rifling through her nightstand, she pulled out her phone and answered it.

Her brother was calling.

“Yes, I’m home-” Scarlett answered calmly, her tone even.

“At home, or your hovel?” a slightly snarky voice asked, full of contempt.

Furrowing her brow, Scarlett exhaled and counted to three, “Of course, at MY home.” She answered, looking round her room, books were littered everywhere, clothing was in a pile by her desk- when was the last time she cleaned her room?

Her brother laughed a sarcastic and bitter edge to the false mirth as Scarlett visibly wilted from the treatment. A laugh that seemed to determine how useful Scarlett was to him. “Can’t you get anywhere better? I mean, how could you? With your useless fat ass, who’d let you rent somewhere when you can’t even get a job?” he laughed again.

Silence met the man before Scarlett let out a sigh as she sat on the end of her bed, “What do you need Liam?” she answered softly, her voice wavering.

“Other than you to cook something- cause that’s all you’re good for,” Liam snipped, “your stupid, retard cat is pissing me off. Pick her up to live with you.” he stated, no room for argument.

“Aiden needs Rosie.” Scarlett reminded him, their older brother adored cats more than anything else, “He loves cats and after he lost Blackie, he-” she continued before Liam made a sound of uncaring impatience that would certainly meant he would have glared at her if she was talking to him in person.

“I don’t give a FUCK, what that sack of shit needs,” he hissed, his voice full of venom, “I want that spastic cat gone, NOW.”

Taking a deep breath, Scarlett reinforced her determination, “No, he needs Rosie. She’s good for him and helps with his anxiety.” The young woman stated, knowing that Aiden desperately required the companionship. He was more socially awkward than she was shy and felt better around animals than he did around people.

“Just fucking do it, you useless whore!” Liam screamed at her before a cracking sound was heard through the speaker, “I’ll break her neck otherwise.”

*click*

The phone call had ended on her brother’s terms- violence, hypothetical or not. Scarlett stared at the blinking phone icon as she felt a cold feeling spread from her gut to her heart and limbs. Slowly, Scarlett closed her eyes with a shaky breath and slipped her phone into her left pocket. Where had she gone wrong? She had tried her hardest to help raise her younger brother with her family, why was he so hostile? So angry and horrible to her and their older brother? Was he just acting out, or was he really just a horrible young man?

Leaving her room, which seemed so much colder, even with the warmth of her flowers and colour palette, the young woman returned to the living room and blinked. The couch was barren, save for her jacket, which was half on the floor. Frantically searching the flat, Scarlett went outside to the garden- he was not there. Rushing back inside, she fretted as she left the flat through the front door and checked the bare hallway and with each neighbour on the ground floor before going upstairs and checking with every neighbour on the first floor.

She did of course have the frame of mind to lock the flat doors, windows and cat-flap before leaving her domicile in search of the missing teen.

Thankfully, Scarlett’s luck changed as she talked to the couple who lived above her flat and one to the right, they had seen an older man with the teen she described. Mister Jacobs looked at her with a kindly smile; informing her what the man looked like, suggesting that perhaps they were on the roof, working when the boy fell. Jane, Mister Jacobs wife of 30 years added that she had seen a flash of light above the window before her husband looked outside, she was adamant that the mystery pair were doing an experiment on the roof when something went wrong.

Taking the couples advice over the incident and where the boy and man could be, Scarlett thanked them for the tea and the helpful information. Leaving with a promise to return for tea another day, Scarlett walked down the hall to the stairwell and to the roof access. Pushing open the heavy door, which squealed in protest at the action, the young woman stepped out into the dappled light and looked around the roof. There was nothing more than the usual television antennae’s, satellite dish, air vents, industrial and ancient air conditioner. Leaning against the wall beside the doorway, out of the pigeons pooping zone, Scarlett rubbed her eyes, what the heck was going on? Where had that kid gone?

Frustrated with worry, Scarlett left the roof and glumly returned to her and Lisa’s flat before she gave herself an aneurism or fell of the roof from ammonia. Unlocking the flat, the brunette blinked as she saw Lisa in the hall, looking at her curiously, “Can I help you?” she said warily, concerned for her friend.

Lisa jerked her head to Scarlett’s bedroom, “I thought you were in your room.” She replied as she balanced a load of washing on her hip.

“I was out for a moment, so it couldn’t have been me.” Scarlett blinked, her brow furrowing, could have the kid come back and somehow gotten inside? No, that was ridiculous, why on earth would he come back to a place he was injured? He could have thought she was a bad person that hurt him or- no, she was only trying to help him.

“Then… was it One-eyed Tom?” the darker haired brunette asked, referring to the buttery yellow one-eyed cat that was friendly to Scarlett. The nuisance (to Lisa he was), had shown up months ago one night as Scarlett was outside helping one of the older neighbours spend time playing catch with their grandchild. The series of steps from the ground floor to solid ground was a problem for the majority of older residents in the block, having received numerous complaints; the landlord didn’t listen to their pleas for access ramps.

“There was some noise, nothing much, just a thump and rustling.” Lisa smirked, feeding the soiled clothing into the top loader washing machine, “Maybe he caught a mouse of decided that he hates that collar you fitted him with.”

“I don’t want someone to take him to the pound and kill him if he’s a stray.” Scarlett replied, finding the detergent and softener from the cupboard beside the washing machine.

Sighing, Lisa took the detergent and added the proper amount before tearing the softener bag open and dumping it into the receptacle, “You are too damn kind Chére.” She smiled softly at her sister before she wrapped her arms around her and murmured into her ear, “And I wouldn’t trade you for the world.

“It’d have to be a pretty shitty world to choose me over it.” Scarlett said bitterly, anxiety and inadequacy hitting her heart.

“No.” Lisa harrumphed with resolution, “You are Chere, wonderful, sweet and adorable as sin.” She pulled back from Scarlett and looked at her with determined eyes until the older woman’s anxious look turned into a slight smile, her cheeks darkening. “There they are, them rosy cheeks.” Lisa said cheerfully, pulling her older sister close again and hugged her.

A few moments after the tender exchange, the sisters broke apart.

“My turn to cook yeah?” Lisa beamed, all thoughts of the previous conversation vanishing or at least resting on the back burner of her crafty mind, “How about some deliscious taco’s?” she proposed, “I gots the cheese and tomatoes today.”

Scarlett nodded, “Taco’s sound good.” She said quietly, still smiling with a pink face.

The younger woman pumped a fist as she turned the washing machine on, “Yeeeesh!” she grinned like a maniac and rushed to the kitchen, “Taco’s mah sisteh from another misteh!” clanging and exuberant whoops came from the kitchen, “Margarine beeyotch!”

Shaking her head and closing her eyes, the pale woman slipped her shoes off and padded to her bedroom, the idea of informing the police of a missing teen flitting through her head. Was she being neglectful or a horrible person if she didn’t do everything in her power for a situation she had no handle on. Sighing, Scarlett shook her head as she entered her bedroom, an odd sight beholding her eyes.

There was a folded piece of paper stuck to her personal computers screen.

Walking to her desk, Scarlett pulled the sticky note from the screen and brought it closer to her face to read. It was interesting to Scarlett as for one, she didn’t have lined sticky notes- nor did she recognise the scrawl at a glance, one was somewhat neat, the other jagged and legible. The first part of the note read;

‘Um, thanks for not hurting me taking my kidney like some creepy psycho.

I want to say thank you and you know, maybe hangout as thanks. I mean, if that’s cool with you and all. I know I am, but ah, yeah.’

It seemed sincere and in the fashion a teen would write. Lowering her eyes, Scarlett chuckled at the second part of the note;

‘Yo.

So my dorky spaz of a grandson wants to thank you. A good time or some shit for not being a psycho bitch. Look, just agree to get him off my back. I’m busy as fuck and don’t need him hounding me and it’s been only ten minutes since he woke up.

We’ll pick you up for a movie or some other crap in a couple of days around 4:30PM.

Just do it, he won’t shut the fuck up.’

Shaking her head in disbelief, Scarlett put the note down on her desk, she had to be hallucinating or dreaming. Why on earth would a stranger and his grandkid feel indebted? Even if she couldn’t figure out the teens motivation, Scarlett could perceive the grandfather’s motivation, it was obvious. The old guy loved his grandchild, whether or not he made a fuss to throw the child off, he was legitimate in his love for the kid.

The rest of the day passed without incident, Scarlett fed some of the uncooked mince to One-eyed Tom as he came straight through the cat-flap at the back door when she unlocked it. Lisa enjoyed cooking up Taco’s, complaining that their ‘brother’ from another mother was lazy when he didn’t add lettuce, capsicum or tomatoes to his Taco’s. Scarlett pointed out that Lisa never let her have onions in her Taco mince and the conversation quickly switched to Lisa’s job at the local library.

As the night wore on, the sisters went about their routine, they cleaned up dinner, watched a few episodes of their favourite zombie show and eventually went their separate ways; Lisa to the shower and Scarlett to bed with One-eyed Tom.


	3. Chapter Two - Invitation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Books are read, Bugs are Killed, Shit goes down!
> 
> a/n (the other author)  
> A promise is kept, sanity is questioned and a few things are revealed/hinted at.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GREETS this is the other Author of this wacky so many au's that we've lost count story. >.> seriously, that's like the only reason it takes so long for us to update, we keep making so many au's of the story, that we forget bout the original. Anywho, here's the next chappy folks, enjoy.
> 
> a/n ttcv  
> As my co-author stated above, we have lost track of time and apologize to those who enjoy this story so far, we far behind in posting chapters, even with how much we have actually written and disused. I believe we are roughly up to 30 or so of our au's (some are in other au's someone has created, which do amuse us.) So, fret not, I have already started on the nest few chapters in its and pieces with dear ValetineLuna.
> 
> Enjoy the chapter darlin readers.
> 
> Disclaimer: Characters based on any real (living or not) have had their names changed for obvious reasons of protection.

** Chapter Two – Invitation **

Light streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, flooding the cavernous room with light and ambience amidst the tall shelves that were crammed full of books lined the floors in rows exacted and catalogued via the Dewey decibel system, genre and author. Among these silent knowledge sentinels, Lisa watched her sister-slash-one of her best friends move like a child in a candy store as she herself went about her job re-shelving the returned books.

“Chére, take a few home, read them, then come back in a few days,” Lisa chuckled, picking up a massive book that weight more than a phonebook, “they’ll all be here.”

The wavy haired woman swiftly turned, her brows creased and her eyes large, “What if someone checks out the book I want?” she bounced on the spot, “I couldn’t deny someone else a book.” she added, cuddling the stack of books in her arms like they were the holy grail to her. As if the worry could consume the young woman, she began to set the books down on the nearest desk and started to rapidly go through them, searching through chapters and indexes for interest and relevance or mere curiosity.

“Chére, even you can’t read three 400 page books in two hours.” Lisa said wearily from the trolley, trying to dislodge what seemed to be dead crickets jammed in the wheels. Promising death, even if they were already carcasses and no more than mangled limbs.

Scarlett looked up, glaring, “Raspberries, I can try!” she shot back, not to be insulted for her reading and love of books. She was the true definition of a bibliophile, an avid book lover, a person devout to the written word and printed medium.

Tilting her head, Lisa snickered. If she didn’t know any better, her big-little-sister would get off from books. She understood her almost unnatural love of books, how she would nearly go into a rage at mistreatment of books, or improper repair. Lisa shuddered at the thought, her marine eyes widening a fraction, Scarlett’s glare whenever she saw a duck taped book Lisa owned, or god forbid, she place a book on the floor. Pulling her sudden awkward quietness, Lisa squeaked and went into a defensive  praying mantis -like-pose as she stomped at a half dead cricket to death, “Yeeesssh, you little bastard, die and don’t jump at me again!”

Scarlett frowned and looked up, concern in her eyes, “It couldn’t have hurt you, there was no need to kill it with such abhorrence.” She said softly, lowering her eyes, awaiting the tired look of people when she protested about killing something violently or pointlessly. There was a time and place for needless violence, nothing needed to die in a cruel or vicious way.

“Chére,” Lisa huffed, “I know you know that it was already going to die,” she looked up, her eyes wide behind her glasses as she shifted into a relaxed position. “it jumped at me and I went into ‘fear position of retaliation’.” She motioned to the dead and smashed cricket remains, “If it was a spider, I would have crab-walked over that shelf and thrown everything within reach until it was no more than a smear on the carpet.”

The older brunette sighed, closing the book she was reading and looked older than she was, “Yes, your phobia has justification for killing if only in the case or circumstance of arachnids.” Scarlett countered with a nod, “However, the validation of fear doesn’t counteract the need or necessity to kill another animal.”

Exhaling, Lisa bit her lip, her sister was a smart woman, who valued life and an honest opinion of all else before harm.

Looking pensive for a moment, the bespectacled woman pondered, her sister was everything she wasn’t, as if they were night and day.

In their physical differences, Lisa was taller, albeit more than an inch and a half, but that was very little over all. Scarlett was chubbier than her, a more womanly frame to her petite and small but stocky build. Their eyes were both blue (icy with sapphire compared to marine with blue topaz flecks) and both had brown hair. Her skin was a lovely cappuccino due to her partial Māori heritage with uncountable freckles. Scarlett on the other hand was all peaches and cream, pale and soft, as if the moon claimed her as their child.

Swallowing, Lisa compared their personalities, knowing how confrontational she was, a real spitfire. She was somewhat arrogant when she wanted to be- a right bitch, an honest and loyal heart and a sassy woman who knew what she wanted in life. As she stared at her older sister, her traits flitted into her head; kind-hearted and compassionate. Knowledgeable, adorable, accepting, honest, artistic and stronger than she knew.

Of course she had her insecurities, both women did, but there was a part of Lisa that envied Scarlett’s sweet nature.

As if reading her mind, Lisa felt Scarlett wrap her arms around her, pulling her close in embrace, “I envy you Lisa,” she said, her voice near a whisper, “you’re very strong and confident,” Lisa opened her mouth to object, to only have Scarlett rub her back, silencing her and allowing her to say her piece. “You are so brave- braver than anyone I have ever known, someone who is so dependable that you will do anything short of death to make someone you love smile.”

Lisa closed her eyes and pet Scarlett’s back, “I believe you Chére,” she replied quietly, “But you know how hard it is to believe in good qualities all the time, especially with gods forsaken countries threatening war and people being assholes.” She huffed, “Like yo-” she raised a brow as Scarlett had moved and cupped her mouth.

“No.” her eyes pleaded with Lisa, begging that she didn’t dare say what she was thinking.

Lisa sighed, forcing a fake smile onto her face just nodded and allowed her sister to smile sadly and agree that she’d meet Lisa later at home.

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The following day consisted of Lisa working and Scarlett keeping the flat in a genuinely clean manner, as she had less to do than when she lived with her family. If anything, it gave her time to read her many books, play with One-eyed Tom, who seemed extremely pleased with the attention and affection.

However, by late afternoon Scarlett was somewhat sleepy and rather bored.

Sitting in her lounge chair, she cupped a yawn as she scratched behind Tom’s ears, “Just a lazy Thursday afternoon, isn’t it boy?” she said softly, checking the time on the clock above the small kitchen table. It had just turned 4:33pm. It was then that it occurred to Scarlett that perhaps that child and his grandfather were coming. That possibly, she had hallucinated the message and the sticky note.

Perhaps Lisa was pranking her. She did do harmless pranks from time-to-time, yet Scarlett couldn’t fathom the point of this one.

A sudden and unexplainable flash of green before her caused the young woman to shoot off her chair; tumbling backwards she crouched behind the upright recliner and stared at the vicious, lime green portal before her. One-eyed Tom shot from the room, spitting fury as he darted into Scarlett’s room and hid under her desk.

Two figures seemed to step through the swirling mass, utilising some sort of interspace technology-- Scarlett refused to think magic, the taller one was wearing a non-descript labcoat for Gallifrey’s sake. The taller of the pair was rather… well-travelled and ordinary looking, beyond his erratic hair and somewhat cold eyes, to which Scarlett’s eyes narrowed as her eyes settled on the smaller of the two. He was the young teen from days previous; he seemed to be better than she had last seen him, no bandages, frazzled hair or bruises.

Glancing around the living room, the young teen spotted Scarlett and nervously waved at the girl that had helped him. “H-hi, I’m Morty.” He said with a wide smile, his chocolate eyes bright and conveyed a sense of ease as he motioned to the man beside him, “This i-is my grandpa Rick.”

Scarlett slowly stood from behind the couch as her mind whirred and clicked the pieces together. Information flitted in and out of her mind, gathering all the facts before her. First fact, there was obviously dimensional teleportation technology that had just been utilised in her living room. Second fact, the obvious user of said technology was the blue haired man with erratic hair, holding a cross between a remote and child’s rendition of a hybrid of ray gun and push-vacuum. Third fact, the small and nervous teen was wearing the iconic yellow t-shirt and had such a sweet smile it threatened to break her heart. Or give her instant diabetes.

 It was impossible.

 Improbable.

It wasn’t- couldn’t be real.

The small brunette swallowed; she had lost her mind then. That was the only sane and rational explanation she could hold while the two figments or possible intruders just seemed to regard her curiously.

Morty, if it was really him, smiled warmly at Scarlett, “S-so, a-are you ready to go?” he asked with a tilt of his head as Rick wandered around the living room, seemingly looking at everything and nothing.

Before she could respond, Scarlett’s phone buzzed, snapping her to focus. Swallowing thickly, she brushed her hair back and checked her phone, Lisa was texting her that she would be home within half an hour. The brunette frowned, she had a few choices before her, wait for her sister to return home and get herself committed for psychological evaluation. Go along with her damaged psyche and follow the pair, thus endangering herself and others in the process. Another would be to ignore the hallucination and just sit back down and hope for the best.

Though possessing a great deal of common sense, Scarlett supplied herself a fourth and final option, acceptable proof to venture forward. “W-who are you?” she asked, her voice only somewhat shaky as she felt a sense of wary unease settle in her stomach.

Somewhat affronted by this girl’s sense of indignation, Rick huffed, “L-look kid –urp- I ain’t g-got time for this shit,” he frowned and waved his hand, “you’re n-not f-fuu-urp-ucking nuts.” He narrowed his eyes at Scarlett, who shrunk back into a fearful manner, “That is w-what you were th-thinking right? ‘Am I insane because some lanky m-man and his retarded grandson w-waltzed in t-through a portal i-into my h-home?’ Ahm I r-right?’” he offered and watched the brunette frown and glower at him, probably angry that he called his grandson retarded or doubted her sanity.

“Aw, c’mon Rick, do you have t-to say t-that?” Morty said softly, his cheeks flushing pink as he rubbed the back of his head, ruffling his curly hair.

For a moment, all was quiet.

Until the only female who occupied the space changed her entire demeanour.

“How dare you!” the girl, who was by coincidence as tiny as his grandson, placed her hands on her hips and glared up at him, “It wouldn’t make him any less of a person, no matter his mental faculties. He is his own person and he doesn’t deserve to be put down like that!” Scarlett finished as Rick arched a brow at her as he took a slow sip of a flask he had pulled from his the top pocket in his labcoat during the tiny girl’s defence of his moronic grandson.

Rick shrugged, “Alright.” He looked to Morty, “Got ya’self a-a ch-cheerleader –urp- Moorty.” He smirked as he placed the flask back into his pocket and retrieved his portal gun from an inner pocket of his labcoat, “Pack em i-in Morty, we’re g-going-” he glanced down at his grandson, “With or without your –urp- f-friendly neighbourhood heroine h- here.”

Morty smiled wearily, one of the sure things that Rick was serious about his plans; he’d leave Morty here for a drink, pleasure or black-market good if he didn’t get his head in the game. The teen looked at Scarlett again, not even knowing her name, he sighed, “D-do you want to come?” he asked, hitting himself mentally as his cheeks flushed a darker pink as Rick scoffed.

Seeming to miss the accidently innuendo, or being too polite to say anything at all, Scarlett exhaled softly and nodded, making her decision. “Y-yes, just have to g-grab my bag before we go.” Rushing to her bedroom, Scarlett texted Lisa that she would be out for a while, that uncooked dinner was in the fridge, that the flat would be locked and that One-eyed Tom wasn’t a happy cat. He was continuously yowling and hissing at any sound or movement that came from the living room.

Before she grabbed her bag sitting on her desk by the door, Scarlett took a moment to calm herself and truly accept what she was doing, how foolish she was acting. Shaking her head, what did she have to lose? Returning to the living room with a small smile on her face, Scarlett adjusted her messenger bag on her shoulder, they weren’t going anywhere dangerous as thanks, that would be somewhat… counterproductive.

Rick activated his portal gun, regarding Scarlett and Morty for a second before he motioned for them to step through. Something seemed to agitate them apart the flat more than his grandson’s whining and pitiable attempts at flirting.

Morty ushered Scarlett towards the active portal as he talked nervously, “J-just go through, it’s sorta like a j-jelly waterfall- weird and kinda soothing.” Morty stammered, trying to make light of the situation that was obviously unfamiliar to the girl beside him. Stepping up to the green swirling disc, Scarlett exhaled and stepped through.

***

It was late afternoon, Lisa was walking home from her job at the local library in the main street when she shucked her hat further down on her head, the glare was irritating her eyes. The sun was fairly bright, yet not as bright as it could be for the summer considering the roads weren’t melting or creating mirages of water. As it was, Lisa had trouble with her sight than having to worry about something being there or being a figment of her imagination of her messed up eyes.

The brunette sniffed in disdain as her phone buzzed, it had to be either Chére messaging about dinner or something she forgot. Shifting one of the two bags to her left hand, she fished her phone out of her pocket and swiped the screen with relative difficulty.

_‘I’m going out Lisa, I’ll be back in a few hours of so. I left marinated shish-kebabs for dinner in the fridge. I locked the flat and Tom isn’t very happy. Love Scarlett’_

Lisa blinked.

Her sister was fine and she was apparently going out somewhere. Which worried Lisa, she didn’t like Scarlett on her own. Lisa stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and frowned, was Chére going to be on her own? She was a shy girl and Lisa hoped she was okay and took the mace she made for her. Texting her sister back, _‘Thanks, have fun, be safe. :)’_ .

Shaking her head, Lisa resumed walking; she hoped she cooked the shish-kebab right, as she kind of failed in the survival department when she cooked meat, nearly always gave herself food poisoning. Though, her biggest worry, she thought as she crossed an intersection just before the street to her flat, was that damn cat, One-eyed Tom. The mangy shit didn’t like her most of the time and was constantly attacking or demanding her attention.

Humming, the brunette wandered up the sidewalk into her building, avoiding the cracks riddled with burs and tiny half-dead weeds. With a practiced balance of a dance that required keys, Lisa unlocked the heavy gate, gritting her teeth as the metal hinge squealed in protest, when would that blasted bitch of a landlord fix the damned gate? “As soon as she decided to fix the bloody heating.” Lisa mused as she yanked the railed gate behind her shut- the lock snapping heavily in place.

Making her way through the corridor to the back of the building, Lisa prepared herself for a rampage of surprise attacks from the insane cat her sister deemed ‘too sweet’ to accidently get hit by a bike or a roaming feral dog’s new chew toy. Surprisingly, Lisa did not find herself bitten and attacked by the cat; instead, she found that the lazy bastard was inside the flat, laying on the couch, purring like a steam engine. Lisa shrugged and deposited the shopping bags on the counter, emptying the contents and stored the bags in their proper locations. Stretching her back, Lisa popped her shoulder with a sigh and wandered to her bedroom to change out of her work clothes and place her bag in her room. Spotting that it was still fairly early, she decided to nap.

Unfortunately, her predisposition in biology determined that she needed to empty her bladder after just under an hour of sleep.

Sitting up with a grumble of profanity, Lisa snatched up her glasses then shuffled to the bathroom to wash her face. When she was patting her face dry, she saw a flash of gold in the mirror in a vague geometric shape. Squinting, Lisa shoved her glasses back on and blinked with an annoyed frown; it was just the reflection of the cat sitting on the toilet cistern behind her. Throwing the hand washer at the cat, she hissed, calling him ‘A bad kitty!’ for startling her. One-eyed Tom yowled as he jumped down and shot out of the bathroom and towards the kitchen with his tail in the air.

Leaving the bathroom with a frustrated sigh, Lisa moved to the kitchen to cook the marinated meat for dinner, praying that Scarlett left instructions for her to follow. Luck was with Lisa it seemed, as her older sister had indeed left her instructions under a horse magnet on the fridge to cook what turned out to be marinated shish-kebabs. While she was cooking, the yellow Tom rubber up Lisa’s long legs, meowing.

Picking up the now purring mangy Tom with one arm, Lisa sighed, she missed her dogs and her family. This was the first time she’d lived away from home, “You’re no dog, but I guess you’ll do.” Lisa muttered, moving the cat so she wouldn’t trip over, “You do kinda remind me of a cat I used to own.” One-eyed Tom purred and nuzzled Lisa, rubbing his head against her side. Lisa chuckled, “Why the hell do you like me cat?” she asked wryly.

The one-eyed tom meowed in reply, bumping under her chin.

“Yeah, yeah, you love me cause I give you the good stuff.” Lisa smirked, pulling a bit of cooked meat off one of the shish-kebabs and feed it to the cat. Mewling, one-eyed Tom ate the meat and purred, leaping from Lisa’s arms and onto the floor. The cat paused for a moment, then his paw and rubbed his face before he glanced back at Lisa for a moment then wandered out of the kitchen and away from Lisa’s view.

The bespectacled brunette shook her head, that cat was odd. He did do ‘cat things’, but at times he seemed… odd. And that was definitely saying something if Lisa was saying it. When she was sure her cooking was through and correct, Lisa divvied up the shish-kebabs between two plates, turned the stove off and set up the second plate in the microwave. Texting her sister, Lisa hummed as she scooped up her plate and a can of cola to eat at the lounge, finishing the half-done text as she ate, _‘Hey, put your tea in the microwave. I’m gonna eat, shower and probably go to bed.’_ she messaged her sister.

While Lisa ate, one-eyed Tom appeared to be agitated, wandering around the flat with a puffed up tail that flicked whenever he crossed into the living room. He seemed to be agitated at some scent or another, did he smell mice? Lisa wondered as she dived her attention between him and a horror movie. Shrugging, Lisa ate her food, the mysterious of that cat wasn’t her problem. After finishing her dinner and putting her plate in the sink, Lisa went to the bathroom to shower and brush her teeth. Before she passed the living room, she blinked and frowned and wandered over to the cd player on the kitchen bench and flipped it on, playing music would make the apartment seem less quite. After the brunette showered, she moved to her room and changed into her pj’s, shut her door and crawled into her bed. As usual, she didn’t bother putting Tom out, he always found a way back inside anyway.

***

The journey through the portal was oddly as Morty described, albeit more terrifying. Blinking, Scarlett looked around to see just where Rick and Morty had decided to bring her- it seemed to be a car park of a reasonably sized movie theatre. Hopefully it wasn’t a situation that resulted in her waking up in a bathtub of ice, missing a shirt and a kidney.

Rick watched the pair lazily as he trailed behind them, he barely paid any attention to the two teens. Morty was yapping excitedly like a demented Disney sidekick, while the girl looked around with interest at her new surroundings. Taking another swig from his flask, Rick decided she wasn’t hard to look at; great rack, cushion for the pushin and had a fire that seemed to flare up around his moronic grandson.

“What are we seeing Morty?” Scarlett asked softly, noticing Rick was a few steps behind her and her equally short companion. Was the blue-haired scientist chaperoning his grandson? Surely he had something better to do for a few hours. Then again, perhaps he didn’t trust her with the teen, which was logical as she didn’t know either of them beyond a name, and incident in which she helped the poor boy.

Morty rattled off a list of movies that had just come out, going into detail about plots and hear-say, getting particularly excited over the sci-fi movie that came out the week before. Rick muttered to himself in the background as the kids talked, swearing that every sci-fi movie was convoluted as the next and all had the same loser-cheapass plot.

Talking to the teen softly, Scarlett observed the teen, commenting with her thoughts as Rick purchased tickets and the mandatory junk food then shoved the majority of it into Morty’s arms- to which the poor teen complained that hot butter was burning his forearm. Taking the hot bucket of popcorn, Scarlett asked Morty if he was okay, did he need ice as Rick leaned over her shoulder, snickering at Morty’s flushed face at the girl’s touch.

When the trio eventually got into one of the room that was just finished screening the movie, part five of Cosmic Conflict, ‘Return of Zombie Dad and space turtle’. Rick sat down and bitched at the sheer idiocy of Cosmic Conflict, like any engineer would be that retarded to not cover all their bases and oversized space stations. It would be like a bank placing a ‘rob me’ sign on a building made of spun sugar and papier-mâché. Yet, he found a lot more enjoyment in watching Morty fluster as he tried to talk to still unnamed girl with a meaningful conversation, instead of forgettable small-talk.

Rolling his eyes, the blue haired scientist took a handful of popcorn from the bucket in the girl’s lap and chomped on the popcorn as he shoved a box of chocolate covered malt candy at the kid, “Yo, Red, w-want some candy?” he asked, watching the small brunette squeak.

Scarlett hesitantly took the candy, quietly thanking him and murmuring that her name was Scarlett.

Rick shrugged, he had been calling her red because of the blush she had whenever she got shy or nervous. Seemed he had a better reason to call Scarlett ‘Red’ now. “It’s only c-candy Red.”

Morty, somewhat put out that he didn’t learn Scarlett’s name before Rick, he drew attention to himself by excitedly informing the p-air that the movie was starting. This was the first time a girl had ever agreed to go out with him anywhere. Even though Rick was with them, it was still nice.

As she watched the movie, Scarlett laughed with Morty, sincerely having a good time, not noticing the time pass until the credits started to roll with generic science fiction music blaring in the background dramatically. Talking excitedly, Morty flushed pink as Scarlett brushed popcorn out of his hair, asking him with a slight motherly tone how it had happened.

Rolling his eyes for the umpteenth time, Rick watched Morty yammer and smile like a baby that had just farted and shat itself as he all but dragged Red to the ice-cream store on the opposite side of the theatre’s car park.

When the trio entered the store, it was considerably late, yet the business was twenty-four hours, seven days a week and 369 days a year. This dimension had a few extra days to orbital displacement from the impact of the comet that killed their version of the dinosaurs; they had been more birdlike and could mimic sounds like parrots.

Eyeing the huge varieties of flavours, Rick smirked at the small teen’s awe filled look, “B-best Ice-cream –urp i-in all the dimensions Red.”

Scarlett smiled warmly, “I’m sure it is Rick.” She replied with surprising warmth.

Morty grinned brightly, asking Scarlett what flavour of ice-cream she preferred. As the brunette’s eyes lit up as she scoured the flavours, he felt warmth bloom in his chest; he could almost pretend it was a date. Of course, something in the back of Morty’s mind niggled at his thoughts, as if something was sorta wrong with Scarlett. Not with her personally, but something felt off about her home, something bad, ‘Rick has a neutrino bomb in his pocket.’ kind of bad.

As she pondered for a moment, Scarlett hummed before she answered Morty, “Cookies and cream.” she replied with a tender smile, watching as Rick paid for the trio of cones with good humour. It was odd at how enthusiastic Rick was for the frozen treat. Was he just a child inside? Or did he find enjoyment where he could?

After deliberation, the trio had their ice-cream at one of the tables in store. Halfway through the chatter and ice-cream, Scarlett checked her phone; Lisa had made dinner for her and had set it aside in the microwave to be reheated when she got home. Scarlett sighed with a smile, Lisa was such a caring person to her.

“Y-your parents checkin –urp- up on y-you Red?” Rick belched, cocking a brow.

Morty frowned, seemingly upset that the outing was drawing to a closer. Spending time with Scarlett had been fun. Rick hadn’t really done anything to be rude or mean to her or him.

Mildly amused, Scarlett raised a brow, “No, my sister. She messaged about dinner and probably went to went to bed early for work.” She replied as Morty picked up and handed her messenger bag from the spare chair. Thanking him, Scarlett followed the pair with her leisurely pace.

Baffled, Morty blinked, “You h-have a s-sister? I-is she younger of o-older?” he asked as he lead Scarlett and Rick back outside into the cool night air. He wondered if Scarlett’s sister was as nice as Scarlett.

Scarlett smiled, “She’s younger than me, wears glasses,” she hummed, kicking at a stray pebble on the concrete sidewalk, watching Rick as he activated his portal gun, “a strong lady with a sassy attitude.” She continued as Rick smirked and holstered his portal gun.

Rick guided the two through the portal and into Scarlett’s flat, rolling his eyes. “Sounds like a-a major bitch.”

“R-Rick don’t be mean, you-you’ve never met her.” Morty defended as they excited the portal.

The young woman huffed as she excited behind Morty, arriving in the flat’s kitchen and crossed her arms on her chest, which was much easier and achievable than crossing her arms over her chest. “You are a very confronting man.” She said simply, watching Morty fluster at Rick for his rude behaviour towards his new friend.

The wild haired man sighed, “Whatever, just s-say goodbye to Red Morty.” He snipped, watching the girl place her bag on the bench and move about her kitchen grabbing glasses from the cupboard by her knees- he couldn’t tell what sort.

Morty rubbed his head, defeated, “S-seee you later? R-right?” he asked, his voice full of optimism as his chocolate eyes sparkled hopefully.

Not to be one to crush another’s hopes or expectations, Scarlett smiled softly and gave the adorable teen a hug, “Of course Morty, we’ll see each other again soon.” She ruffled his hair in a playful manner as Rick activated his portal gun for his lab.

“Get h-home k-kid.” He directed, “Tired –urp- of y-your shit.”

Dejected, Morty frowned at Rick before he shook his head and went through the portal.

Placing two tumblers on the countertop, Scarlett pulled a bottle of whiskey from the cupboard beside her and poured a sizable amount for Rick, then handed the tumbler to him and poured her own drink. Rick eyed Scarlett’s drink with a curious eye. Sniffing the alcohol, he got the scent of whiskey and aniseed; it was strong. Real strong. “You –urp- t-too young for this Red?” he asked, taking a sizable gulp of his drink, enjoying the burn.

Scarlett shook her head, and then drank a mouthful, “I’m 24 Rick, I can legally drink.”

Rick almost choked on the liquor, Red was legal? She was of drinking age. There were so many possibilities. She had just opened up a revenue of adult activities, scams and places they could go. Slinging an arm over Red’s shoulders, he clinked tumblers, “Red, y-you and I are g-gonna have multi-dimension of fun.”

Squeaking timidly, Scarlett looked up at Rick, frowning with wide eyes, “W-what do you mean?” she questioned shyly, her anxiety flickering to life. She wasn’t excessively pleased with being touched by someone she barely knew, let alone a tall male. Yet she was enthralled by the man who was intelligent and fun.

“I can’t take M-Morty drinking with me,” Rick clarified, draining the tumbler with one gulp, smirking as the small woman did the same, “it’d b-be –urp- nice to have someone I-I can take to bars with me a-and enjoy that. Instead of b-bitchin about the s-smell or bored-urp-em..”

“Um…” the brunette looked down, pink tinging her cheeks, “You want t=to spend time with m-me?” she queried, worried that someone she found interesting was remotely interest in spending any amount of their time with her. She knew that Rick was most likely interested in her for some other reason, she supposed she could humour his request of a drinking pal.

“Yeah, you’re –urp- not the worst c-company I’ve h-had.” Rick waved his empty tumbler, “It’d be n-nice to have a drinking buddy again.” He muttered as Scarlett refilled his tumbler, “Birdperson is still m-mulling over his divorce. W-was like years ago- fuckin’ f-featherbrained dick.”

Nodding, Scarlett poured herself some more whiskey, smiling shyly, “I don’t have anyone to d-drink with either.” She looked up and tucked her hair behind her ears.

Rick smirked, leaning back against the counter as he drank some more and watched Scarlett slyly, “Gotta h-have –urp- fun Red.” Rick drained half the tumbler, “M-maybe we could h-have f-urp-un together. Travel t-to bars across the dimensions?” he offered, not really sure why he was offering.

Drinking the whole of her tumbler, Scarlett smiled, “W-would we actually d-do work as well Rick?” she asked curiously as the alcohol dulled her anxiety and lessened her shyness.

Rick leaned back against the counter, eyeing the short, plump woman. “The type of s-science I work with, very few people –urp- understand.” He shrugged, not exactly certain of the woman’s level of intelligence. It was clear that she wasn’t an idiot, as she could hold a conversation and understood his conveyances and meanings. “I doubt y-you’d find it i-interesting Red.” Which was true for the most part. Even though there were things that interested Morty in his work, the kid didn’t understand half of it on a good day.

The young woman placed her tumbler down as her eyes sparkled, “Like string theory? Or d=dark matter applications?” she asked, her cheeks flushing as Rick look at her, a pleasant warmth spreading through her body. “S-science is a wonderful and beautifully intricate art Rick.” Scarlett replied, making a motion with her hands as she studied the tumbler for a second, a bead of moisture running down the side of the smudged glass. “It’s not a-all sterilised labs and ex-experiments, you have to just do science,” she looked up at Rick with a happy smile, “you know?”

“Heh, it’s not o-often that I find a woman w-who can drink and understand science.” Rick chuckled, “Might bring y-you around my lab for a looksee.” he offered.

“That would be w-wonderful Rick.” Scarlett hummed, then frowned, “Though I-I don’t think that I’m intelligent enough to a-appreciate or evaluate your works.” she said softly, licking her lips again as she glanced downwards. Scarlett was well aware of her failings and seemingly lack of intelligence. Which was more in fact, attributed to her kind and trusting nature being abused than to her intelligence.

“Science is art Red, y-you don’t gotta be smart to appreciate it.” Rick shrugged, bushing his hair back, “Morty i-is fascinated by s-some –urp- of the things I do.”

Giving Rick a rather confused look, the brunette shook her head. “That’s because h-he cares about you.” Scarlett said softly, “He wants your approval m-more than anything Rick.” she continued, “You’re l-like that Rick, blindly brilliant. P-people want you to like them, c-care about them,” Scarlett murmured, her cheeks flushing pink from the alcohol, basing her reasoning on Morty’s actions and description of his family. It was clear the boy loved his family dearly, it was just he had no stable or true parental figure, a near isolated older sister, a selfish and vindictive mother  and a father who seems to more obsessed over himself than caring for children.

Rick drained the rest of his drink, unsure what to say to the young woman. “You should p-probably get to bed Red. I –urp-, I should get b-back to my lab. Morty will probably want to visit in a few days.” He replied, brushing over Scarlett’s last statement and fished out his portal gun, opening a portal, hoping that Morty didn’t decide to touch anything in his lab without his say-so. Again.

Scarlett blinked owlishly, “Oh… okay.” She smiled merrily, “Get some rest a-and say goodnight to Morty for me.” She grabbed Rick’s glass and moved to the sink, rinsing it along with her own as she heard Rick leave. Humming, she drank a few glasses of water and walked to her room in a blissful haze. She found One-eyed Tom on her bed. It didn’t bother Scarlett in the slightest, as she laid down next to him and cuddled the grumpy cat. Calling him a good boy as he started to purr loudly, Scarlett fell asleep.


	4. Chapter Three - Perceptions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The sister's starting to question their sanity over reoccurring nightmares and hallucinations. all the while someone new starts to wiggle their way into the sister's lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A fan fiction collaboration between thetruecrystalvixen and Valetineluna.  
> ‘We fuel our fandom; we embrace the oddity and uniqueness with passion and elation.’
> 
> This is a cross-over fan fiction/ self-indulgence. Somewhat prompted and inspired by a discussion I had with someone over what our universe is to other realities.
> 
> Disclaimer: Characters based on any real (living or not) have had their names changed for obvious reasons of protection.  
> Rick and Morty (c) Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon  
> Undertale (c) Toby Fox  
> Gravity Falls (c) Alex Hirsch
> 
> a/n ValentineLuna  
> creepy neighour and a fucking asshole of a cat  
> a/n thetruecrystalvixen  
> Seeing things you shouldn’t requires a psychiatrist or a lens of truth.

** Chapter Three – Perceptions **

One of the many things that Lisa loved about summer was that it didn’t start to get dark until around seven in the afternoon. Though it didn’t make walking back to the dinky flat she shared with Scarlett any less creepy; there was always the chance of running into a gang, someone trying to mug her, or any number of disastrous outcomes. As a precaution, Lisa always carried her keys between her fingers or her homemade pepper spray.

Yet, she was still a paranoid person at heart, her in-ear headphones were on to allow herself to be alert enough to notice anything wrong. The music was turned down very low, barely audible as she wanted to be able to hear if someone was following her or trying to call out.

Since moving out of home and into the small flat, weird things had started happening; she was seeing things that shouldn’t be there, hearing things when she should only be hearing silence or her music. Weird dreams had started since Scarlett had found and adopted a golden mangy tom cat-- an annoying asshole of an animal. And sometimes Lisa could swear that someone was following her.

A shiver went down her spine as an unusually cold breeze blew past, Lisa swallowed uneasily, checking her surroundings once more. _It’s nothin, you’re just imangin things. There’s no one following you, that graffiti isn’t looking at ya._

She paused mid step, her head swung to the left, someone had scribbled all over a fishing poster, the misspelt swears and slurs were normal, as were the assortment of names and shout outs. What was unusual was the yellow triangle with a black eye in the centre. Lisa shook her head, rubbing her eyes, “You’re tired Lisa, you’ve been running on two hours of sleep and three bottles of triple shot iced coffee a day.” She sighed, starting to walk again, “And ya talkin to yourself like a crazy person. Peachy.”

A cat meowed behind Lisa, a nasally meow, one that Lisa knew. Frowning, the brunette looked over her shoulder at a mangy looking daisy gold cat with one eye. She hissed and jerked her head towards the street. “C’mon ya stupid bastard, let’s get home before Chére worries ‘bout us.” One-eyed Tom blinked his good eye and slowly walked up the alleyway towards Lisa at the exit. He regarded her with a hiss before he walked past her with his tail flicking idly behind him in sharp arcs. Lisa scoffed, stupid cat, the prick was hoity-toity for a mangy stray. Quickening her pace, Lisa followed the cat towards home in the cool air of summer-- she desperately needed a nap or something, before she passed out.

The last time she’d passed out, it had freaked Scarlett out. Then again, face planting into your scrambled eggs would do that to a person. She’d catch forty-winks before dinner, just to be safe, just to appease her worried sister. Yeah, that was it, appease Scarlett before she had an aneurism from worrying.

The mangy stray sat by the front door to the flat, his tail twitching impatiently as Lisa climbed the steps.

“Yea-yeah, I’m comin ya cunt of a cat.” Lisa grumbled as he growled at her, “Claw or bite me and I’ll kick you off these fuckin stairs, we clear?”

One-eyed Tom hissed, his hackles raised as he arched near the door, Lisa cursed, trudging up the stairs with a huff, her head felt too heavy for her body. She fumbled for her keys, grumbling as the door was too loud as it clicked open, the sound even louder when she pushed it shut behind her.

“Chére, I’m home, feed the pussy!” she called out as she shucked off her shoes at the door and shuffled to her room, nearly bumping into the hall table as she did so. “Gonna take a nap.” Lisa huffed, smacking her lips as she reached her bedroom.

“Sleep well!” Scarlett shouted from the kitchen, “We’re having burgers for dinner!” she added, nearly stumbling as she pulled the cat food bag from the cupboard.

As Lisa pushed open the door, a light thump came from within her room, something had fallen to the floor. “Wha’eva the fuck that was kindly fuck off. I’m tired and in no mood to deal with this assfuckery.” She growled as she entered the room and collapsed across the bed, too tired to remove her glasses. One-eyed Tom yowled as he batted at Lisa’s plush of a dog, hitting it onto the floor. “Stupid, fuckin’ cat!” Lisa hissed and rolled over with a huff, facing towards the wall, trying to sleep.

“Tom, come here boy!” Scarlett called out, rattling the plastic bowl, the dry biscuits rattling against the sides as Scarlett tried her vain attempt at getting the cat to leave Lisa alone to gain some sort of rest she desperately needed.

The cat ran out of Lisa’s room and into the kitchen with a meow, winding around Scarlett’s legs. ”Such an eager kitty,” the brunette chuckled, placing the bowl down on the floor, watching as Old-Tom darted forward, his head ducking into the bowl to eat, “it’s not as if we don’t feed you enough.” Scarlett murmured as she rubbed her eyes, she hadn’t been getting a lot of sleep lately, maybe a two hours now and then. Eyeing the clock in the kitchen, the young woman shook her head, it was 6:05pm, she needed a nap is she had any hope of functioning at all. As she padded down the hall Scarlett could hear Lisa’s light snoring-- she smirked, going to her room to lie down on her hastily made bed.

Closing her eyes, Scarlett heard a shuffle, squeezing her eyes shut tighter, she had the distinct feeling of being watched. She opened her icy eyes, looking wearily at her bedroom, Scarlett saw that nothing was there. Scarlett’s bedroom door creaked open, the one-eyed tom sat in her doorway, his tail twitched as he meowed lowly as light flooded into her room flood from the hallway behind him.

Scarlett murmured, moving onto her side, she looked to the door, shielding her eyes and saw the cat. “T-Tom... Hey kitty,” she sat up wearily and smiled, “Would you like to rest here?” She asked kindly, patting her bed. Tom flicked his bushy tail, studying the Human before him with his lone golden eye, with a tilt of his head he padded across the floor, then leapt up onto Scarlett’s bed. The fussy cat kneaded at the bed, then and settled down next to Scarlett’s side to settle down for sleep.

As the older sister found sleep, the younger had fallen into a fitful slumber.

Inky darkness surrounded Lisa, embracing her in a thick fog of nothing beyond her scope of sight. It wasn’t the kind of darkness that brought peaceful sleep or comforting quite, no this darkness was thick, foreboding, its silence deafening. She tossed and turned, trying to find some sort of solace in sleep from what troubled her waking hours.

Something slowly traced up her spine, making her shudder in discomfort in her slumber. Lisa sat up gasping as a hideous and monstrous face appeared in front of her face. Her hands flailed outwards, scrambling for her glasses somewhere on the bed, Lisa hissed as she pushed her back against the wall behind the bed-- the plain brick wall scraping her back. As her heart hammered inside her chest, she shoved her glasses onto her face. She frantically scanned the room for any signs of danger or an intruder. Scrambling for her phone as a source of light, Lisa hastily turned on her flashlight and scanned the room under the flush of light in her hand.

There was nothing in the room but her.

“Scared of nothin’.” Lisa muttered to herself as she turned the flashlight function in her phone off. “C’mon, pull yaself together, a few freaky dreams is nothin’, you’ve had worse.” Lisa sighed, trying to soothe herself as she shifted down on the bed, her phone resting on the bed beside her. Barely a moment later, Lisa reached into the space under her bed, pulling out her metal baseball bat. Shifting back into a sitting position Lisa tried to sleep with her rattled nerves and the metal bat clutched on her grasp.

***

The next day the sisters were walking to one of the local supermarkets in the pleasant spring weather to stock up on more coffee, as one of the pair was a coffee achiever.

Scarlett rubbed her eyes as she walked beside Lisa, for the past ten minutes she had watched the younger brunette with a perplexed look, what was the younger woman staring at? Had she seen a dog she wanted to bark at? Or maybe a man with a nice back? Or was it something she could smell? Scarlett was well aware how much better Lisa’s sense of smell and hearing was than hers-- due to her allergies and near constant wary and reactive nature. Thus, it wasn’t unreasonable that she had heard or smelt something out of the ordinary.

Like clockwork, Lisa had been staring across the road every few meters or so, which was starting to unnerve Scarlett a fair bit, she hoped something wasn’t wrong with her sister and friend. “Lisa, what are you staring at?” Scarlett inquired, her icy eyes flicked across the road, noticing that there were a few people out and about; a child on a bike with their parent trailing behind, a man walking his dog and a few people walking alone up and down the two sides of the road along the footpaths.

Lisa leered past Scarlett, her eyes narrowed behind her blue rimmed glasses as they turned into the supermarket’s car park, “There’s an old creepy guy across the road. He’s been followin’ us.” She hissed, stopping she waved an arm in the direction of the man following them, “Hey I’m watching’ you buddy! We’re minors you dickwad!” she yelled, shaking a fist as her sister drew her towards the supermarket whilst stammering apologies to anyone in their immediate vicinity, her face pink.

Grumbling under her breath about the creepy guy, Lisa followed after Scarlett, her gait longer than her sister’s, easily catching up to her shorter stride as she hurried away. Though neither she nor Scarlett were actually minors, they were often mistaken for minors and it was quite amusing when someone realised they were actually a decade older than they appeared. To Lisa, this meant she could abuse it whenever possible to those that she felt deserved it. Which happened more often than not and to more people than she’d ever admit to her sweet law-abiding older sister.

Inside the supermarket near the trolley bay, Scarlett pulled out a shopping list and a pencil from her messenger bad while Lisa grabbed a trolley that had moderate control. She had no desire to crash in a shelf again, or fall ass over head when the trolley decided to veer in one direction when she was going in the other.

“Leads the way masta.” Lisa imitated Dobby’s voice as she rubbed her tired eyes, her free hand clutching at the trolley.

Scarlett shook her head with a smile, heading to the southern end of the supermarket, starting in the pet-food aisle. At a leisurely pace, the pair worked passed aisle the way to snack foods. Humming, Lisa plopped a packet of biscuits into the trolley next to glass bottles of soft-drink, kitty-litter and washing detergent. As Scarlett reached up to a shelf above her for wafer cookies, something moved in peripheral vision. Thinking it was Lisa, the young woman gave the movement no mind as Lisa wasn’t one to startle her on purpose.

 Lisa was in fact, not the source of the movement-- it was that creepy guy from earlier, and he was looking at her sister. Lisa moved to block the older man’s view of her sister, glaring at him, she straightened to her full height, even though it wasn’t much at 5’3. Her lip curled in frustration, she’d slept shitily again, and they were out of coffee and this creeper of a cock-thistle was starting to piss her off. “The hell ya bloody lookin’ at?” Lisa spat, “You fuckin’ followin’ us or somethin’?” she hissed, “No sucki-sucki five dolla! So fuck off, I haven’t had enough coffee or sleep to deal with this shit.”

Scarlett squeaked, bumping into the shelf, various packages fell down around her, “L-Lisa, was he really staring at us?” she asked nervously, her eyes downcast.

The man blanched, a brow raised, “I wasn’t lookin’ at anythin’!” he retorted, brushing back his chocolate hair.

Lisa growled, her shoulders going ridged. “You were lookin’ at her heiny!” she huffed, as her eyes narrowed behind her glasses, “Old bastard.”

“Lisa, h-he looks a little older then us, you shouldn’t really call him old...” Scarlett said softly, her cheeks pink with embarrassment, “And d-don’t be mean.”

With a huff, Lisa rolled her eyes as she folded her arms across her chest, “He shouldn’t be listenin’ then!” she spat.

“I’m not listenin’,” the rough looking brunet defended himself as he picked up a packet of jelly beans, “I’m shoppin’.”

“A likely story bucko.” Lisa glared at the brunet man while she helped Scarlett pick up the fallen packets, returning them haphazardly to the shelves. “C’mon sis, somethin’ ain’t right ‘bout him.” The taller woman hissed as she lead the shorter sister to a different aisle, gathering the desired groceries away from the suspicious man. The unnamed man frowned and shook his head as the sisters walked away, they were so odd for being adults.

***

The two woman spent the next hour shopping before pushing a shopping trolley home-- they brought it back every time they went shopping in a less than intelligent game of one pushing the other in the trolley with both their bags down the footpaths into town. When they did arrive home, Lisa deposited an armful of groceries outside the flat door as she panted. “Fuckin’ stairs,” she wheezed as she fiddled for the key to unlock the door, she always complained about the two stairs before the gate that almost always tripped her up.

Humming behind Lisa, Scarlett held several bags and gasped as Lisa thudded against the door as she tried to open it, cursing as the door stuck within the frame. Swearing, the bespectacled woman hit the door with her shoulder again and tumbled inside when the door gave way and swung inwards. Lisa swore and screamed as she fell forwards, groceries scattering everywhere.

Scarlett darted forward, placing the groceries down in order to help her fallen sister. “Lisa, are you okay?” she asked frantically, checking the younger woman over.

“Is everything alright?” a rough voice asked from the hallway that separated the flats. Lisa raised her head and looked towards the voice-- she groaned, seeing the man from earlier. He smiled sheepishly, pointing up the hallway to the flat next door, “I live here.” He seemed to easily sense Lisa’s hostility and frazzled state.

­­­Lisa thumped her head against the floor, "Course ya fuckin’ do, cause where the fuck else would ya bloody fuckin’ live? Narnia?” she spat, not particularly caring that the floor was very hard and cold at least she didn’t have to look at the shit-haired, stalkery ass.

Scarlett slipped a hand under Lisa’s forehead, cushioning the blow and to stop the younger woman from banging her head on the floor. Helping Lisa move to her knees, Scarlett ignored the comment about Narnia. “We c-could use assistance.” With a grumble accompanied by multilingual cursing, Lisa got to her feet with Scarlett’s help. Testing her foot, Lisa hissed, her ankle was definitely twisted and her wrists ached from landing on them. “Lisa...” Scarlett sighed as her brow furrowed, her ice eyes flicking to the man’s, “Please h-help.” She asked softly, “If y-you want to.” She stammered, looking downwards.

The man watched Scarlett for a few moments, something flickering in his eyes. “Alright toots, gimme a sec.” He replied, placing his grocery bags down by the door. Crossing the threshold, he slung his arm carefully under Lisa’s and hoisted her up to a standing position.

Lisa easily held her weight as she hopped on her good foot towards the crimson couch. Not even bothering look up, Lisa grumbled, thanking the man as she scrounged in her pocket for a pressure bandage to bind her ankle.

Walking to the door, the man picked up his groceries and left, not before nodding at Scarlett. The young woman blinked and rushed after the man, “W-wait!” she asked, squeaking shyly as she bumped into him as he stopped.

The man turned, catching Scarlett’s shoulder, the bag of bread in his hand thumping lightly against her arm. “Yeah?” he asked, quirking a brow.

Scarlett looked up, her eyes warm and kind. “Thank you for h-helping her.” she said softly, tucking her hair behind her ear and leaned up on her tiptoes, kissing the man’s cheek. “I’m Scarlett b-by the way.” She smiled sweetly as she started to walk away, before looking over her shoulder at the unnamed man, “T-thank you again.”

The man blinked, then smirked, “Name’s Leroy.” He replied and winked at Scarlett as she stood at the door to her flat, her cheeks pink as she stared over her shoulder at Leroy. Raising his brow again, Leroy chuckled as the short woman made a noise akin to a baby goat as she stumbled quickly into her flat.

Lisa had wrapped her ankle and hobbled back to the front door, she had crouched down and gathered up the scattered groceries into her arms. When she had managed to get most of the bags loaded into her arms, Lisa limped them to the kitchen counter-- not being one to let a twisted ankle stop her from fetching the groceries. A little pain never killed anyone after all. As she went to grab the last few shopping bags, Scarlett had come back to the door, the shorter woman’s face was tinged pink as she stared down the now empty hallway.

 “What’s up sis?” Lisa asked, furrowing her brow, what had her pseudo-sister all frazzled? Had that man said something? If he did, she would need to leave a skeletal carcass at his door: possibly the only time that mangy cat would be of use to her.

Scarlett blinked, flushing a darker pink as she crouched, scooping up the spilled groceries in her arms and stumbled towards the kitchen in a teeter-tottering manner. “U-um, ah Leroy-- t-the man.” Scarlett flushed shyly, as she dropped the bag of mandarins to the floor.

Lisa beamed slyly, limping to her sister’s side, “Does he get your motor hummin’?” she asked, waggling her brows. Her only reply was a ‘nyeh’ sounding squeak. Lisa grabbed her own cheeks, making a lewd sound as she hopped back to the small kitchen and began to put groceries away as she limped around talking to Scarlett. The one-eyed tom tripped her over, making her fall again. Lisa fell back against the fridge, swearing angrily as one-eyed Tom yowled, jumping onto the counter as Lisa tried to slap and kick him.

“Lisa! Tom!” Scarlett scolded the pair, flicking the cat’s ear as she crouched by her sister, checking her head. “You silly woman,” she murmured softly, “you are going to stay on the couch and watch anime, rest your ankle and head.” She nodded, her resolve set. “An order, by your big sister.” Scarlett stated, looking into Lisa’s eyes.

­­­­­­­­­­­The younger brunette smirked, letting the older woman help her up and to the couch. Lisa wasn't one to be fussed about, yet she humoured Scarlett, letting her fluff pillows, cook steaks for tea and dote on her until she pretended to fall asleep on the couch.

Scarlett rubbed her face and covered her mouth as she yawned; she needed to go to bed. Before she did retire to bed, she changed and worried that mice were making holes in the walls, she briefly wondered if Leroy was a good man. In her kind nature, Scarlett didn’t think Leroy was anything beyond being weird and a new neighbour. Lisa on the other hand was suspicious as a magpie watching you in the summer; it wasn’t in her nature to be so trusting.

Hearing her sister’s door close, Lisa rose from the couch and hobbled with a determination she often held when in pain or looking after those she cared for. In a gait that had her dragging her leg, Lisa managed to get to her room without making noise, waking her sister or kicking the cat that had the audacity to weave around her unsteady legs.

***

Lisa had slept relatively well, despite having an injured ankle and repressed rage over the mangy cat that was the root of most of her problems and injuries. Her alarm had gone off, prompting her to get up and start getting ready for work. She wasn’t going to let a twisted ankle stop her from working; after all, it wasn’t the first time she’d walked on a sprained or twisted ankle. Lisa’s ankle was now a constant painful throb, rather than the sharp pain from yesterday. So long as she kept her ankle wrapped and didn’t move much, she’d be fine.

Limping out of her room, Lisa turned left and wandered down the short hall past the bathroom and opened Scarlett’s door and flipped the light on as she went, waking her sister up. Scarlett groggily covered her head with her pale blue and white doona, mumbling about not wanting to get up. Hearing a grumble, Lisa shook her head as she returned to her room to get changed from her sleepwear to work wear then hopped to the kitchen to grab something for lunch and to make some breakfast.

“Chére, up and at ‘em, you’ve got class and I gotta for to work.” Lisa yelled from the kitchen as she pulled the bread out from the breadtin on the countertop next to the radio. Hearing a disgruntled groan and a thump, with a shake of her head, Lisa set the bread down next to the eggs to make eggs on toast.

A few minutes later as Lisa started cooking the eggs in the skillet, Scarlett stumbled out from her bedroom, eyes blinking groggily under a mess of tangled. “Leeessaaa, I don’t wanna.” She grumbled with a sound similar to a whining puppy as she sat at the small kitchen table on one of the miss-matched chairs.

“If ya don’t go, I’ll eat your jar of caramel or move it to the top cupboard.” Lisa threw over her shoulder, waving the spatula in the general direction of her sister. Not waiting for her sister’s inevitable acknowledgement of the threat, Lisa put two pieces of toast on a chipped plate, placing one egg on each slice and set in front of Scarlett. Only once Scarlett started to eat, did Lisa make her own breakfast.

Chewing thoughtfully, Scarlett blinked owlishly, “Is t-there a ghost?” she asked softly, her cheeks turning pink at Lisa sudden ridged posture, the kind she had when something seemed to bother her at a deeper level. Had she said something wrong? “I-I heard spooky whispers and groans last n-night.” The timid woman frowned, pondering aloud, “Maybe it was a dream? I have had quite a f-few weird dreams lately.” She tried to push Lisa’s worries away from her in a nonchalant manner.

The taller brunette looked over her shoulder as she cooked breakfast, “Ahhh, what kinda groanin’?” she asked, looking back at her half cooked breakfast. If her inkling was right, she was going to have a very stern talk with that man, that ‘Leroy’, if that was even his real name. And by ‘talk’, she meant shoving her foot so far up his ass until she kick out his teeth.

“Ah, I think it was sorta sharp and breathy?” she hummed and frowned yet again, her fork halfway to her mouth, “Do ghosts get out of breath?” she inquired as she took the forkful and chewed before she swallowed the bite. If anyone knew about the paranormal, it would be Lisa with her fascination with the whole genre, more so than Scarlett and her logical way of thinking. Heaven forbid, the younger of the two could easily survive the mysteries, wonder and horror of a supernatural world with a gun and a smile.

“They’re dead, they don’t need to breathe.” Lisa clucked her tongue, her eyes screwed up in thought as if debating her answer. “I believe you heard our creepy new neighbour yanking his snake.” She replied bluntly, as she turned the stove off and placed her breakfast on a plate and set the skillet on the metal sink to cool down before being soaked.

“W-what if the person died from asphyxiation? Would the effect of their death cause them to gasp or breathe erratically as a ghost?” Scarlett countered with a tilt of her head. Though she was not as avid with Lisa in her fascination with the supernatural, the paranormal or horror, she did often wonder if ghosts would appear in a similar manner of death record f stories and video games, recording their deaths in different coloured, gradient or effect causing ways. “And w-what snake?” she asked in all seriousness, her mind not clicking the meaning behind her friends words.

Lisa shrugged, somewhat undetermined by the prospect of the death being the cause of the sound Scarlett had heard. “If a person did die by asphyxiation, then I guess their ghost could gasp.” She took a bite out of her egg on toast, “He was probably, ya know, yankin’ his snake,” Lisa replied, making a crude male masturbation with her free hand, “pullin’ his meat, angerin’ the one eyed dragon. He was obliviously masterbatin sis.” She finished with a casual motion, and continued to eat her breakfast.

Inhaling sharply, Scarlett coughed and choked on her food. Taking a moment to breath and take a few gulps of water to clear her throat, she looked up at Lisa, the older woman was flushed a dark red in embarrassment, “Why-” she squeaked shyly, looking down at the table, “Why w-would you say that?” she flustered, her thoughts flicking to Leroy’s rouge-like smirk and wink from the night before.

“Sharp and breathy, that’s usually either pained or pleasured moany sounds,” Lisa shrugged, working through her second piece of egg toast. “Sthise, evrone mastheurbats.” She said around a mouthful of tomato sauce, toast and egg.

The older woman’s hair fell forward as she bent her head, “I d-don’t.” She mumbled shyly, feeling decidedly childish at her nativity, at her screwed up mind and body.

Lisa swallowed her last bite of her breakfast, dusted her hands off and stood up from the table.  “And that’s fine. Some people just don’t like it sis, nothin’ to be ashamed or embarrassed about.” Lisa smiled softly in a comforting manner as she put her plate in the sink, rinsed it and left it to be washed later.

Nodding, Scarlett continued to look down at her breakfast, smiling weakly, “O-okay,” she murmured, holding her plate, “I understand.” _I understand how much of a child I am._ She thought sadly as she stood and moved to the sink, leaving her half eaten food by the cooling skillet. Thanking Lisa for breakfast, the older woman went to her room to get her clothing for the day and had a quick shower before she walked with Lisa, each to go their separate ways at the main street crossing.

Usually, Lisa worked from 8:30am to 4:30pm at the local library and walked home before dark while listening to music and texting her friends and family that she was perfectly fine. Her job wasn’t that tedious and she did enjoy working with a mutual friend and adoptive brother to their menagerie of friends; he was a man who was loud like her at times, yet polite when in a situation that requires such subtly.  Scarlett on the other hand, went to classes two days a week for three to six hours depending on the day; plus a study day which lasted two hours; she tried to cram that in on her three day class for free time. Afterwards, she usually worked on her own, went shopping, or returned home to clean, draw or be hat she was responsible, that was when she decided to have a hotpot for dinner; hearty and good food.

It would of course take time to get everything into the oven.

That was course, after taking into account of how long it would take to prepare the ingredients; lightly browning the beef in dish, braising the vegetables, separately heating the oil, slicing potatoes on top. The meat had to cook in the veritable stew until it fell easily from the bones, tender and tasty. It did indeed take half-an-hour to get the dish into the oven with all the ingredients. After that, it was a waiting game, checking that the potatoes didn’t burn and cooked to perfection in the constant and steady heat of the oven.

Spending her time in the open living room, Scarlett played a video game as she waited for the food to cook. She ended removing the glass lid of the ceramic dish and turning the oven to a lower temperature to slowly brown the top of the potato slices. Roughly twenty minutes later, she got out a heatproof mat and oven mitts to remove the heavy ceramic dish from the oven and placed in on top of the oven. Serving herself a small portion, she made a plate for Lisa and left it under a cover to retain heat and protect it from insects and One-eyed Tom. She also left a note for Lisa and knew there was enough room for the dish to be placed on the bottom level of the fridge Lisa moved some of the food around.

After eating her dinner, and washing up the mess she had made, Scarlett decided to try and rest, her nerves frazzled from lack of sleep and her general health. She had curled on her side under the window above her bed, staring at the wall, wondering if Morty was okay, that poor boy had enough to deal with without his grandfather endangering his life.

***

Today, Lisa had the unfortunate luck of having to stay at work until late with overtime. So, she did the sanest of options and called her flat-mate and informed her that she’d be home hours later than usual, most likely home by eight or so if she included any shopping or travelling home. The day was long and filled with cataloguing, shelving helping library patrons and logging books in and out. After the library had closed at 5:00pm, Lisa went back upstairs to finish cataloguing books and DVDs into the newly updated computer systems. Once she was done, she left with Toni, locking up the building in the rear exit to the library’s car park. Toni, the librarian, waved goodbye to Lisa as she drove off in her car while Lisa started to walk the two blocks to the closest supermarket.

It wasn’t unusual that Lisa was the one that went shopping once a week, due to her quick and deciding nature, she didn’t stop and ponder everything like Scarlett did. The sister’ had a habit of running out of something on an odd day and that was when they borrowed a trolley from the supermarket to disprove their adult nature and have some fun. Even when Lisa did limit their shopping to once a week, getting the bulk of what they needed, there was always something else they needed or forgot, be it milk or bread. There was also the fact that the freezer was small, only able to fit four small bags of frozen goods, a few trays of meat and a small tub of ice-cream.

She had only remember that they were out of bread about halfway through the afternoon, he knew Scarlett wouldn’t have looked in the breadtin, the older woman had a habit of missing lunch. Lisa grabbed a loaf of Vienna bread and a half loaf of white bread while she debated with herself about getting a taxi home. Deciding it would be safer than walking home in the dark; she’d be smart and called a taxi.

The taxi ride was quiet and awkward, seeing that Lisa was a paranoid of most older men and would in no way encourage any friendly behaviour towards herself. She made no attempt at small talk. Relief flooded through her as she saw the block of flats further up the road before the taxi; she was more than eager to pay the taxi fair and flee to the relative safety of th small flat. She uncomfortably thanked the taxi driver for taking her home and rushed away, as if her feet were on fire.

She made her way through the locked gate, up the two steps, unlocked the flat door and only relaxed once she was inside and the door was locked shut behind her with a firm ‘click’. For once the door didn’t need to be forced shut to lock properly. Almost immediately, one-eyed Tom yowled at Lisa, flicking his tail back and forth, watching the Human. Lisa hissed at the cat when she saw him, growling as she moved to stalk past him to the hall. One-eyed Tom hissed belligerently, taking a swipe at Lisa as she passed him, moving through the hall and into the kitchen end of the living room.

As she packed the groceries away, Lisa spotted the note and food. Halting her packing, she moved to the bench beside the oven and as a smile crept onto her face, her sister had made dinner. Not even bothering to walk several feet to the kitchen table, Lisa leaned on the benchtop ate her dinner with gusto, surprisingly starved. It seemed her meagre lunch of a mango and coffee hadn’t been enough to sustain her for her extended workday. With the leftover placed into the fridge, a small sealable container on top holding a serving for her lunch tomorrow, Lisa washed her plate and cutlery. Once it was out of the way, she gathered up her pyjamas and old iPod and went to shower, trying to ignore the fact that she had overtime the next day.

The only upside was that she was earning extra money, so it wasn’t all bad.

Checking on Scarlett on her way to the bathroom, which actually meant doubling back to go to the bathroom, Lisa was happy her sister slept peacefully. The bathroom wasn’t much to brag about; the walls were a faded yellowish-brown floral pattern, offset by cracked candy pink tiles on the floor and shower walls. The shower itself took up most of the room in the small bathroom, which was somewhat of a boon for how large the shower was. The toilet was next to the shower, cramped against the floral walls, while the bathroom sink sat along the wall opposite the shower.

As she showered and washed her hair, Lisa hummed along with the soft music she had playing, her iPod sitting atop the freestanding sink. It had always felt odd to shower in the quiet, she preferred the hum and thrill of the music to distract her from the silence. Once she was finished with the bathroom, her hair was washed, teeth brushed and bladder relieved, she slowly opened the bathroom door. Being mindful of overly loud, squeaky hinges, she grimaced as the upper hinge squealed in protest-- she really needed to oil the damned hinges again.

The one-eyed cat yowled sorrowfully at her, scaring the crap out of her as he tried to rub up legs. “Fuck off, I know watcha doin’ an’ I’m not bein’ fooled. Go to sleep with Scarlett!” Lisa hissed low as the tomcat tried in vain to love her up with his soft mewling and big soppy eye. The last time the cat had slept with her, it had bit her on the ass-- she wasn’t being fooled again. With her clothes set out for tomorrow, Lisa climbed into bed and pulled down her doona, thankful for the warmer weather as she settled down for sleep. For the first time in a week, she had a fair few hours of sleep that didn’t involve bizarre nightmares or confusing dreams. Sometime after midnight, Lisa rolled over, face down on her bed, “N-no, no shokushu goukan.” she grumbled in her sleep and grabbed her pillow to press the cool surface against her face.

***

Passing the witching hour, Scarlett sat up, her eyes wide as she breathed in and out at a rapid pace. She brought a shaky hand to her face, rubbing her cheek before she scrambled from the bed to the bathroom. Within seconds of making it to the toilet, she vomited. Panting, the young woman shakily clutched the wall, using it for support as she stood. Flushing the toilet, Scarlett stumbled to the sink and washed her face, questing what she had seen. Why had she seen such odd things; flashes of black and gold, natural fire, a nasally voice in her head that had whispered incoherent words to her.

Scarlett swallowed as she brushed back her sweaty hair, she needed fresh air.

The timid woman padded through the flat in perpetual darkness to the back door, grabbing the homemade pepper-spray that Lisa made her take everywhere and went outside to the back step. As she sat down on the cold bricks, Scarlett looked up at the sky, slowly, she started to shake and cry silently. Why was she so damned useless? After a time, she rubbed her face, her face damp from tears. It wasn’t a moment later that Scarlett squeaked and jerked as cool cloth brushed against her shoulders.

She looked up and saw Leroy looking down at her, “You okay toots?” he asked, concern lacing his voice.

Scarlett stared at Leroy with wide eyes, tears ran anew down her cheeks. She sniffle and drew the coat around her shoulders; it was warm and smelt like leather and nuts, “I’m s-sorry.” She murmured as she rubbed her cheeks, smearing her tears away. “I’ll g-go.” She added as she stood, her legs shaking as she sniffled, holding Leroy’s coat out to him.

Leroy shook his head as he sat down, “Can’t sleep toots?” he asked while he looked up at the clear night sky. “Me nighter, insomnia. What about you?” he motioned for Scarlett to sit back down beside him.

Against common sense, Scarlett sat down beside Leroy and wiped her eyes as she looked down at the cracked concrete. “I d-don’t sleep well either. N-nightmares a-and insomnia.” She replied, drawing the heavy jacket around her shoulders. “I’m sorry you d-don’t get much sleep,” Scarlett raised her head, her smile kind and caring as she asked, “c-can I help?”

Leroy shook his head, snorting, “Nah Toots, I’ve had trouble sleeping for years now. I’ve learned to work around it. But thanks for offerin’.” He looked back down at Scarlett, “What’s troubling ya Toots, if ya don’t mind me askin’?”

The younger brunette rubbed her eyes, “I...” she struggled and tried to talk, choking up, “I do my best, I-I really try.” She whispered, her voice thick, “I’m a f-failure, n-no matter what I do. It doesn’t matter if I am kind or anything positive.” Scarlett choked out, “Worthless, so worthless by s-societies standards.”

Giving the woman beside him a hard look, Leroy huffed, “With all due respect, fuck society’s standards. Society wants everyone to be exactly the same, you should embrace what makes you different.” He sighed, “I might not know ya very well, but I think that you could be amazing, you’ve just got to give yourself a chance.”

Raising her head, Scarlett smiled sadly at Leroy, her icy sapphire eyes meeting a mixture of bottle green and honey brown. “You think I’d b-be amazing?” she asked softly.

Leroy nodded, “My own father kicked me out of home when I was about seventeen, tod me that I would never amount to anythin’.” He smirked, it was cocky and determined. Yet, it seemed so... wrong to Scarlett’s eyes.

After a few moments of silence, Scarlett replied. “I apologise t-that you were kicked out.” She said softly and tilted her head with a frown, “Are you sure? You seem...” she said softly, her eyes flicked down, “so... sad.” She whispered softly, as if she was afraid that Leroy would react in a less than favourable way if she voiced her opinion.

There was a soft sigh as Leroy ran a hand through his hair, “A long time ago, I lost my family and friends. There’s nothing that I can do to bring them back.”

“You loved them, didn’t you...” Scarlett murmured gently, as she watched Leroy looked upwards at the sky, his eyes dark.

“Always.” The broad-shouldered man muttered. A moment later, Leroy blinked as he felt the woman beside him wrap his arms around her, holding him close to her.

“I’m sorry, so sorry.” Scarlett whispered against Leroy’s side, “You shouldn’t-- you shouldn’t have to be so alone.”

“You’ve got no reason to apologise, it’s not ya fault.” Leroy sighed as he awkwardly patted Scarlett’s back. “So tell me Toots, what’s got you so rattled?”

Scarlett shook her head, “It doesn’t mean I shouldn’t.” She replied brazenly, “You’ve lost so much Leroy, you deserve to be happy.” The younger brunette sighed and shook her head again, “I-it doesn’t matter, you’d think me crazy.”

Silent for a moment, Leroy didn’t reply immediately. “Loss is a part of life, it happens to us all.” Leroy looked back up at the sky, “I understand if ya don’t want to tell me about it Toots, but you shouldn’t bottle it up.” A sheepish smile came to his face, an attempt to try and comfort the woman beside him, “Take it from me, it ain’t healthy.”

The short brunette beside Leroy was silent for a few seconds, before she uttered six heartbreaking words. “I lost my mother at sixteen.” Her voice barely audible, Leroy had to tilt his head towards to hear Scarlett. “There was nothing I could have done to prevent her becoming ill, and a-all I could do was watch her waste away to death.” A sad smile came to her face as she glanced upwards at Leroy, “Life is cruel and unpredictable.” Swallowing thickly, Scarlett exhaled; she had to tell someone what she was troubling her. She had to speak up. “I keep seeing t-things, images, geometric shapes. Hearing things and j-just-” she breathed unevenly as she pushed her hand up into her matted hair, twisting her fingers nervously. “I’m t-terrified I’m l-losing my mind.”

Leroy shook his head, his ponytail bobbing at the nape of his neck, “Just because you see or hear things that might not be there doesn’t mean you’re losing your mind.” He gently pat Scarlett’s back again, “Have ya told your sister how you feel?” Ya could be under a lot of stress; the Human mind has ways of coping with stress.”

“I d-don’t want to bother her.” Scarlett replied, her eyes wide and disproving of the very idea, “I’m nothing special Leroy.” She sniffled, rubbing her eyes again, “N-no one needs me, a p-problem, an unwanted.”

“Hey-hey that’s not true, your sister needs you, I’m sure that a gal like you has friends that love and adore ya. You’ve just gotta look around Toots, you’re plenty wanted. And anyone that thinks you’re a problem should get their attitude checked.” Leroy smiled softly, “And Toots? Even I can see that you’re special.”

“I’m so selfish L-Leroy,” Scarlett whispered, tearing up, “I want my friends an-and family to be happy.” She sniffled, looking up at Leroy’s warm smile, “I’m not special. I d-don’t want to be alone.”

Leroy brushed his hair back, “Ya not selfish doll,” he rubbed Scarlett’s back soothingly, “it’s admirable that ya want your loved ones happy.” His freed hand scratched his head, “Most people don’t want to be alone, but that-” the man frowned, seeming to think better of what he was going to say, “some people end up alone.”

Scarlett placed a hand gently on Leroy’s shoulder, “Are... is there-” she asked timidly, “are you alone? I m-mean, oh that is horrid of me!” she looked down, pink tinging on her cheeks as she scrambled to stand up.

Smirking, Leroy chuckled as a cool breeze swept through the yard, “Are ya offering to date me Toots?” he teased, raising a brow as Scarlett shucked his leather jacket off and handed it to him with a squeak.

Watching the woman, Leroy smirked wider as Scarlett looked down at him with a timid smile tugging at her lips, “Don’t tease me Leroy, it’s mighty cruel of you.” Scarlett replied and retreated back inside her flat.

Leroy rubbed his head, that sweet woman didn’t deserve any more pain in her life. Yet, by what he had seen and heard around her and her hostile sister, it would be getting worse.

***

When Scarlett went back inside, she locked the door behind her and returned to her bedroom; climbing into her cold bed, she stretched out under her blankets, and exhaled softly. After half-a-hour sleep continued to elude her, she tried to relax with breathing exercises, counting sheep, even shutting and opening her window. Finally, she gave up, and settled for staring at the off white ceiling, the only painted surface outside of the bathroom were the painted ceilings. She was unsure when it happened, her sleep deprived mind had muddled her thoughts. One moment she was thinking about cookies, the next she thought about how nice Leroy’s hand had felt on her back. Being small and on the chubbier side of a body type, she found the foreign man’s large hands attractive and comforting.

Scarlett rubbed a hand over her face, knowing her luck, he was gay. She groaned, why was she attracted to men who were assholes or gay? Shifting in her bed, she tried to get some sleep and ignore memory of Leroy’s touch.


End file.
